Drag-bar-adjusting device for cultivators.



- v 'J. A. SMBTHERS'.

DRAG BAR ADJUSTING DEVICE FOR GULTIVATORS.

APPLIOATION FILED Jun: 4, 1903.

U0 MODEL.

WITNESSES,

PATENTBDOGT. 20, 1903'. 'j'

. 2 SHEBTS'SHEET 1- ys ifnretem U ITED STATES Patented October 20, 1903.

PATENT OFFICE.

JAMES A. SMETHERS, OF BEATRICE, NEBRASKA, ASSIGNOR TO THE DEMP- STER MILL MANUFACTURING COMPANY, OF BEATRICE, NEBRASKA.

DRAG-BAR-ADJ USTING DEVICE FO RCULTlVATOFtS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 741,729, dated October 20, 1903.

To wZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, J AMES A. SMETHERS, a citizen of the United States, residing at Bea trice, in the countyof Gage and State of Nebraska, have invented certain new and use ful Improvementsin Drag-Bar-Adjusting Devices for Cultivators, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in wheel-cultivators of the type generally known as straddle-row cultivators, and relates especially to improved means for operating the drag-bars which carry the gangs of cultivating-shovels. It has been common incultivators to provide means for raising and lowering the drag-bars when desired by the operator, and such means ha ve'usu'ally consisted in some form of lever-and-ratchet device, each drag-barbeing furnished with such a device, or else all the drag-bars have been arranged so as to be operated simultaneously by one elevating and lowering device. Thus in the case first mentioned the driver of a cultivator having four gangs of shovels, a

common form, would have four levers to op-,

erate and could not well change the adjustment of them all without stopping the machine and leaving his seat. The latter arrangement of having all the drag-bars raised or lowered simultaneously by one lever is objectionable in many respects, it often being desirable, especially when working uneven ground, to carry one or more gangs of shovels at one elevation and another or others at a different elevation. By the use ,of my improvements any number of gangs up to four can be placed under complete control of the operator, so that any or all of them may be raised or lowered without his stopping the machine or leaving his seat.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure'l is a perspective view or" a portion of a wheelcultivator, illustrating my invention, parts not directly related thereto being removed or broken away. Fig. 2 is a vertical transverse section through a compound ratchet-and-lever device embodying my invention.

1 designates one of the transverse main sills of the machine-frame; 2, one of the forwardlyprojecting tongues; 3, one of the cranked Application filed June 4, 1903. Serial No."160.050. (No model.)

transverse share-bars to which the drag-bars 1010 are suitably attached. On the sill 1 are mounted'brackets or trunnions 6 6, each bored to receive a section 7 or 7 of a divided crank-shaft having at its outer ends crankarms 8 8, to which are pivotally attached lift-rods 9 9, extending downward to suitable connections with the drag-bars 10 10;

The inner and meeting ends of the sections 7 7? of the crankshaft are loosely held in a hub 11, surrounding the joint, and said hub is rotatably held and supported in a ratchetframe 12, secured at its base to sill 1 and extending upward and terminating in a notched arc or segment 13. The hub 11 has an upward extension 14, in which is secured a main lever 15, provid ed with the usual spring-catch 16, adapted to engage the notches of are 13. It will be seen that when said catch'16 is released from are 13 lever 15 and hub 11 are free to rotate about the divided crank-shaft, the hub supporting the meeting ends of the sections 7 7 of the shaft and being in turn supported by the frame 12.

The outer faces of the extensions 14 of hub 11 carry, eitherintegral or attached, segments 17 17, provided with a series of holes or notches 18, adapted to receivespring-pins 19 19 which are mounted in boxes 20 20 firmly secured on the crank-shaft sections by setscrews 21 21, or otherwise. In the boxes 20 20 are secured side levers 22 22, by means of which the respective sections of the crankshaft may be rotated to lift or lower the dragbars 10 10 to any desired degree of elevation.

The boxes 20 20* are open or slotted longitudinally at the top, and said openings extend downward into the castings, forming sockets 23 23 to receive the side levers 22 22. The

.pins 19 19 pass through openings in levers 22 22, and the spiral springs 24 24 surround said pins, being interposed between the outer ends of boxes 20 20 and keys 25 25 which pass through pins 19 19. Sufficient space is against the stress of springs 24 24. When it is desired to reengage the pins with the segments, the recoil of the springs carries the pins back to proper position.

It will be seen that the main lever 15 can be operated to lift or lower the drag-bars whenever the pins 19 1.) are in engagement with one of the holes or notches 18 of the segments 17 17. If this engagement exists in the case of both the side ratchets, then both sections of the crank-shaft, and consequently both drag-bars, may be operated simultaneously by the main lever 15. If only one side ratchet is injengagement, then only the dragbar on that side will be operated by said lever, and if both the side ratchetsare thrown entirely out of engagement with the segments theneachdrag-barwillbedependent foroperation on its individual lever 22 or 22, as shown in Fig. 1, section '7 of the crank-shaft, and consequently drag-bar 10, is thrown out of connection with main lever 15, while section 7 and drag-bar 10 are still controlled by said main lever 15.

It is to be understood that when four dragbars are used in one machine, as is common, the drivers seat will be so located that he will have a set of the compound ratchetlevers described on each side of him, thus placing all four drag'bars within his easy control without his leaving his seat.

I do not limit my claims to the special forms of ratchets shown and described, and any form of ratchet or any preferred means of securing the main lever in fixed position or of connecting the side levers to said main lever may be substituted for those shown without departing from my invention.

It is obvious that this invention need not necessarily be limited in its use to cultivators for elevating or lowering the drag-bars, but that it is equally applicable to grain-drills, plows, harrows, or any other implement in which a plurality of tools of any description, whether shovels, plows, hoes, disks, or furrow openers or closers of any kind, are to be operated intermittently or at varying elem tions.

Having described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent- 1. In a cultivator or like implement, the combination with the main frame of a dragbar-adjusting device comprising a divided crank-shaft mounted on said frame, lift-rods connecting the sections of said shaft with the drag-bars, a lever secn red to each of said sections, a main lever pivoted on said shaft between said first-mentioned levers, means for connecting at will either or both of said side levers with the main lever, and means for adjusting said main lever at any desired angle to said shaft, substantially as set forth.

2. In a cultivator or like implement, adragbar-adj nstin g device comprising a crank-shaft madein two sections, liftrods connecting said sections with the drag-bars, a rotatable hub covering the meeting ends of said sections, a main ratchet-lever secured to said hub, side ratchets carried by said main lever, side levers secured to each section of said shaft, and means for connecting or disconnecting either or both said side levers with said main lever, substantially as set forth.

3. In a cultivator or like implement, a dragbar-adjusting device comprising a divided crank-shaft, lift-rods connecting the sections of said shaft with the drag-bars, a rotatable hub surrounding the meeting ends of said sections, a main lever secured to said hub, a spring-catch carried by said main lever, a fixed ratchet to engage said catch, an upward extension of said hub provided with lateral ratchets, a side lever secured to each section of the shaft, and catches carried by said side levers adapted to engage said lateral ratchets, substantially as set forth.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

JAMES A. SMETIIERS.

W'itnesses:

D. WV. GARRE, O. J. EMERY. 

